How to Get By in a Zombie Apocalypse
by Rvlakia Kavair
Summary: The zombie apocalypse is old news, and for survivors a full year has given them the skills they need to continue their lives. One man in particular is surviving well, his new family in the heart of London giving him fresh memories to replace his missing ones. But the threat is still there, along with other factions, groups, survivors; all vying for the mere right to be alive.
1. Prologue

**Sooo... this is a thing.  
Yes, you've read the title right, this IS a continuation of Hatter's zombie story, only following a different person. I've been wanting to do this since I wrote chapter 12 but only got round to doing it recently - meaning it's exactly one year since the original story was published!  
I don't intend for this to be as long as Hatter's (nor do I have everything planned out);**** feedback is really appreciated. Future chapters will be longer than this in length though. Now I'll stop babbling and let you read...**

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**Chapter 0 - Prologue**

It was the smell that disgusted him the most, he decided, though the sights registering through bleary eyes came a close second. He didn't know why he was sleeping somewhere so revolting, but from the multitudes of motionless bodies laying around him it was obvious that things were in a bad state. His current problem, though, was what truly distressed him. It felt like part of him was clogged, as if the memories of everything before he woke up were all there but hidden at the base of a murky pool. Things faded in and out of view, but nothing that made sense. He concentrated, trying to recall something simple, like his name. Jack? Jay? Jace? They were close, but none of them were right.

He would think it over more later; for now it was a good idea to get his bearings. He was slumped against the wall of fairly small room with blood splattered up the sides, and the window and door looking like they had been forced open quite violently. As he tried to sit up properly his head began to pound, an ache radiating from the left side of his skull through the rest of his brain and causing him to wince in response. The pain meant he was alive though, so that was good, yet the skin on his arms said differently. It was cracked and peeling and gave off the same smell of decay that emanated from practically everything else in the room. He hoped that it was just something on his skin that belonged to one of the bodies, but closer inspection showed that the decay ran into his arm to a depth of a few millimetres at least. An illness, he figured, probably the same thing that got to the other poor souls around him but in an earlier stage. If he were lucky it was a disease with a slow progression and would take long enough to develop for him to get treatment. That was unrealistic though, and part of him screamed inside that he was just a dead man walking.

Or sitting, anyway, seeing as he hadn't managed to get off the ground.

Standing up wasn't a pleasant experience, bones complaining at the pressure and feeling _squishy_ to say the least. Yet he didn't give up; remaining on the floor would do him no good. Now he could stagger over to the window, avoiding the jagged edges of glass on the floor and those still held in the wooden frame. He recoiled as the sun caught in his eyes then recovered and shaded his face with both hands as he moved forward again, cautiously stepping through the broken window and outside. Eyes now adjusted to the light, he lowered his hands and looked around.

There was high fencing, low buildings and large concreted areas all around him, giving the very distinct impression that this was some kind of official area, military. There were people walking around in the distance and he raised his arm to wave and called out to them; the latter he failed to do, finding his throat as dry as the decaying parts of his body. It gave him a moment to reconsider attracting attention, as he now noted that the ambling of the people was closer to an aimless shuffling that no human would use naturally. The person nearest turned in his direction, head stretched out and clouded eyes raking over nothing in blindness, her nose turned up as she scented the air. He froze, fearful of what this obviously diseased woman might do, but she took one last sniff and lost interest.

He backed up slowly, relaxing as he realised she wasn't going to do him any harm. The heel of his foot nudged against something on the ground and it scraped across the concrete in protest. Startled, he looked down to see a small device with a heavily scratched, dark screen. He picked it up, fumbling with it due to his apparent lack of fine motor skills. Curious, he pressed one of the buttons at the bottom and almost dropped the item again when it lit up. Soon the screen went dark again. He shrugged, slipping it into one of his pockets for future studying.

For now, the important thing was getting out of the area. He didn't need to know what had happened to him before in order to realise that staying was a bad idea, and disgust crawled up his spine with every thought of the rampant disease that had affected most - if not all - of the people in the compound with him. But which way should he go, and what would he do if _everywhere _were like here? His brain began to protest at the answerless questioning, specks of darknessed scattering his vision as he doubled over in pain. Of course, there was the immediate issue of his health still, though it occurred to him that the headache might not be related to his decay. It felt recent, from an external source; there was the impression that he hadn't been alone either. Shapeless faces he couldn't remember, an insatiable hunger, voices...

Something came back to him, though the rest of whatever memory he had almost reached faded entirely. It put him more at ease to know even the slightest thing about himself, part of his conscious still wondering how he had forgotten such a basic fact as his name.

Jake.


	2. Life Now

**I finally managed to get this online! Celebrate! Anyway, here is a proper chapter of this continuation; for some reason Hatter thinks this is worthy of the adjective 'rad'?**

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**Chapter 1 - Life. Now.**

Jake opened his eyes drowsily, a welcoming morning light shining through the open door not far from his makeshift bed which consisted of a mattress and several covers, most unused as of late. Whomever had left the door ajar had probably done so to let the air move, keeping the room fresh and cool as much as was possible in the summer heat. Jake sat up and stretched, then got to his feet. He straightened his clothes, making a note that it was probably time to get them washed. He wouldn't be the only one doing so, of course, seeing as no one could afford to change often and there was always someone pushing the limits of acceptable cleanliness.

Ignoring his shoes, Jake opened the door fully and stepped through, immediately affirming that they had survived another night without being attacked. A full eight months, that made it, since their walls had last been breached by the undead.

"Are you already up Jake?" called a teasing voice from above. He glanced behind him to see a woman winding her way down through rows of plastic seating toward him with a rifle held loosely in hand.

"Well there was no point sleeping in," he replied with a smile. "Are you coming from early shift, Mary?"

"Yeah." She reached the last row and clambered over the barriers to reach Jake quicker. "I was thinking I might get a nap in before the day really starts."

"Well report and I'll let you sleep." She halted in front of the still smiling man.

"Nothing for me, but Chidi said she saw a horde just before midnight."

Jake's face fell into a concerned frown. "Which way did it go?"

"Into Student territory, which is why she didn't wake you up. And it was small - only fifteen - so they'll take care of it easily."

"That's all? No need to worry then." His light expression returned. "You get some sleep." Mary inclined her head in farewell before proceeding to the women's quarters, Jake watching to be certain she got there safely though there was nothing that could actually harm her.

He faced the oval expanse of green that their group occupied, inhaling deeply to shake off the last vestiges of sleep. He had no idea how they managed to secure the Olympic Stadium, of all places, as a home for their ever increasing community, but they had, and it was perfect. The high walls became battlements to survey the land outside as well as protect those within, whilst the central area had been entirely converted into farmland after they'd pulled up the running track to maximise productivity. Eight months of almost total security, along with a year of new memories for Jake.

Barefooted, he stepped onto the grass, the ground still cool because it had not long suffered under the current day's sun. "Fifth of July..." he muttered to himself, as was his habit. It helped to keep track of the days. The noise of a goat sounding to his right sawed through his musing and Jake glanced over to a small pasture area where he could make out a figure tending to the livestock. Now was a good a time as any to ask about the farm's status, he decided, and began to amble toward the pasture along a winding path that led him safely through the different crops and past those tending them, who all stopped working in order to greet Jake and ask him if there was any news. After being placated with a positive reply of 'no' they would wish him a good day and return to work, allowing him to progress until the next person. Eventually he reached the makeshift fencing that kept the animals contained, resting his arms on the top and waiting to be noticed.

This didn't take long as the person he was waiting for happened to be an alert boy who glanced around at his surroundings frequently; a survival skill that came in handy nowadays, but one Jake wished a child didn't need to have. The boy bounded over as soon as he noticed Jake, looking up at the man with a wide grin on his face.

"Morning!" he said brightly.

"Good morning, Aiden. Have you fed your chickens yet?"

"Yup; I'm on top of everything!" He looked up at Jake, expectant, absent mindedly pushing away a goat as it came a little too close to treading on his feet.

"I can see that," Jake acknowledged with a glance around the field. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

"Probably die, I suppose!" Aiden laughed jokingly, then his face settled back into an admiring smile. "Seriously though, you would find a way. I'm not even doing that much - that new guy, David, knows more than I do about gardening. So useful!"

"Is that so?" Jake chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm.

"Well he solved the cabbage problem; we'll be able to eat them soon."

Jake nodded. Tinned food had fed everybody up to this point, but there was only so long that could last with a limited stock. Growing vegetables would at least cover some of the demand, and maybe in coming years they would be able to expand and support everybody on their own produce. A difficult feat, Jake knew, what with the number of people in the group, not to mention the increasing interest of _other_ groups. Though best case scenario was all their work became redundant as the zombies were eliminated and civilization fully restarted.

"Do you need me to reassign any workers or is everything going well?"

"It's fine. I said I'd tell you if there were any problems, didn't I?"

"So you did." Jake stopped leaning on the fence. "Well, I'll be off then."

"Aww," Aiden pouted, face falling. "Why? Stay and talk with me!"

"I would, but I think someone already laid claims to talking time," Jake replied pointing out a tall African woman who was making her way to where they were with eyes clearly fixed on him. She reached them and stopped.

"Jake," she greeted simply.

"What's up, Chidi?"

The woman stared at him for a while then glanced at his feet. "Where are your shoes?"

"Does it matter?" Jake asked, confused. It was fine to wander the stadium with no footwear, particularly since he wouldn't be leaving the grass area for now.

Chidi rolled her eyes. "We have a meeting today; did you forget?" The frozen look on his face told her that he had indeed forgotten. "We're supposed to be negotiating with the Sailors."

"I'm glad you remembered that," Jake said, part embarrassed and part relieved. "I don't know how it slipped my mind. I'll grab my shoes and then we can go."

"Is it just you two?" Aiden asked, eyes shining with ulterior motive.

"Yeah, we're trying _not_ to threaten them with an overload of people."

"Can I come?!" the boy asked excitedly. Jake hesitated, looking to Chidi for any refusal, but the woman just shrugged.

"Well I suppose it hasn't been too bad out there lately," he said, and Aiden's face lit up at the approval; Jake's smile, however, dropped entirely. "But if you're coming then you're the runner, so stay back if things turn bad." He didn't know if he could live with himself if he allowed a child to be killed out in the city, and with Aiden it was particularly important to stress that he mustn't try to help them fight off any hordes they encountered. "Right! I'll fetch my shoes and meet you at the gate!"

Chidi and Aiden both nodded - one fervently so and the other calmly - then left to find anything they needed. Jake made his way back through the converted farmland to the open doorway amongst the seating that led to his sleeping quarters. Once inside he sought his shoes, kicked off carelessly before he's slept the previous night. He knew they were in the room somewhere, it was just a matter of time before he found them. One was right by his bed, lying on its side; the other was not so visible, hidden in the darkest corner of the room next to a cardboard box. Jake paused as he bent down to grab the shoe, momentarily distracted by the box and the thought of the items it contained, then mentally shook himself and straightened, breathing deeply to refocus on the current matter at hand. He secured his footwear before picking up a cricket bat and strap as he left, fixing the bat on his back in a position that was easily reachable should they have a nasty encounter while out.

Jake hurried over to the gate, the only entrance or exit to the stadium ever since he'd decided their defences needed to be fortified; waiting there were Aiden and Chidi, the boy sporting a bat like Jake and the woman carrying a bow and stuffed quiver, the remnants of her former potential. Jake couldn't fathom how awful it was for her to make it to an Olympic site under these circumstances, knowing that she'd never have a chance to represent Britain.

He cast this thought aside in order to focus, raising a hand in greeting to the pair and they headed out of the stadium after the gate's guard acknowledged their exit. It was a long walk to the Sailors' base at the marina and might take them up to two hours to get there, by which time it would be lunch and Aiden hoped they would be provided for at the other end. After leaving the stadium they crossed the park and took Pudding Mill Lane out, then following Bow Creek as best they could as it provided an easy way to make sure they remained en route. Chidi, knowing London the best of the trio, then diverged toward Canning Town station.

"It should be quicker to follow the tracks than walk around buildings all the time," she explained as they entered the station. Jake nodded in agreement.

In all honesty, he felt uncomfortable whenever they left the safety of the stadium. It wasn't the fact that they were in danger; they had to walk through empty streets, devoid of the bustling life and activity they should have been filled with. The buildings called for someone – anyone - to use them but were never answered, and vehicles were left abandoned in the middle of the road or at the side, long since burnt out or siphoned by the few survivors. Corpses these days were a common sight, though often unrecognisable as human after their deaths, and their stench permeated the air, the smell no longer bothering Jake, who was accustomed to it. At least, he thought as they walked, the train tracks were free of bodies.

"Jake…" Aiden whispered after a few minutes of treading on sleepers. The boy was close to them and wore an alert face as he continued, "I can hear something." He hoped it was a team from the Sailors searching for food, but all of his senses were shrieking _danger. _Chidi quickly strung an arrow and scanned the area for any sign of the enemy whilst Jake stepped away to have free swing of his bat. The tracks would hopefully act in their favour; the undead weren't well known for their ability to navigate by sight and frequently tripped over objects on the ground.

"Can you see how many there are?" he asked Chidi quietly.

"Not precisely, but I count around thirty at those buildings."

He followed her gaze to the warehouses where the zombies had been residing prior to noticing the trio's presence, the creatures now groaning loudly as they clattered toward them. "Thirty, huh?" He gripped his cricket bat firmly but without any sense of fear. "That's a good sized horde. We might as well fix this."

He could feel Chidi's lips turn up into a light smile even though he wasn't looking at her, then she loosed the first arrow, sinking it perfectly into the eye socket of the foremost zombie, immediately stringing another arrow. The dead were coming at them quickly, but by the time they reached the survivors the archer had already shot half of them out of commission.

"My turn," Jake announced, signalling for Chidi to back off. She did so, herding Aiden to a more secure area where she could continue to pick off the outermost zombies when possible. Jake lifted his bat and sidestepped away from the rotten reaching arms and brought his weapon crashing down through the first's skull, grinning as he did so.


	3. Rumour Has It

**Oh look, a thing. Hatter, get well for Eurogamer this weekend, okay?**

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**Chapter 2 - Rumour Has It**

_Splat._

There went another head.

_Crunch._

Bones breaking.

_Squelch._

A loosened eyeball landing on the stony ground.

Once, any of these would have disgusted Jake, but now he contentedly - enthusiastically, even - smashed his way through the horde of undead. Soon the one sided decimation was over, his bat bloodied and his heartbeat marginally faster from the exertion. Letting the adrenaline in his body fade away, Jake turned to his companions with a smile only to be met by grimaces.

"I'll never get used to how much this stinks," Aiden mumbled through the sleeve covering his nose.

"Is it that bad?" Jake wondered. He was aware of the rotten odour but always found that it didn't bother him the way it did others.

"It's foul," Chidi answered before heading off to salvage as many arrows as she could. Jake gave his weapon a quick scan to make sure it hadn't broken anywhere. Any faults could potentially mean his death the next time he fought so it brought great relief every time he concluded that it was still sound. Jake made his way to Aiden and pat him on the shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah..." He paused, watching Chidi as she placed her foot on what used to be a face in order to keep the head down as she yanked the arrow from its eye socket. "You two fight well." This was something he already knew but seeing it first-hand really solidified the concept in his mind. "You're awesome! I-" Aiden was about to continue but was cut off by another voice calling out.

"Man, you really sorted them out! I was waiting for my chance to jump in and save you but you stole all the thunder before I could!"

Jake and Chidi's heads snapped up simultaneously to locate the speaker, a young man standing on top of one of the warehouses. He quickly hopped onto the metal ladder bolted to the wall of the building and clambered down, running a hand through his dark hair as soon as he was safely grounded. Chidi retrieved another arrow absent mindedly, keeping her main focus on the man walking toward them.

"No need to be on guard: I come in peace." He held both hands up playfully, intentionally allowing them to see the sole weapon at his waist - a small hatchet - and a pouch likely filled with either food or medical supplies. "I'm Virgil, a scout from the Sailors. You?" He lowered his hands as he spoke, picking up the silent approval he'd received from Chidi to do so.

"Jake, from Athletes," the leader replied, relaxed since it seemed he posed no threat to them. Virgil's face froze, then widened into a grin.

"So you're the famous Jake! Really, I thought you'd be taller. Want me to take you to the marina?" he offered, jabbing his thumb in its direction to emphasise. "I was heading back anyway."

Jake paused to consider. "We know where we're going already, but you're welcome to join us." It was a principle of his to never let any survivor wander around by their self, no matter how strong or experienced in fending off the undead they were. This thinking was what gave rise to the 'Buddy System', as it was commonly called, implemented by the Athlete faction. Only groups of at least two would be allowed out of the stadium to the wider city, with one person designated 'runner' who kept lookout (lowering the chances of ambush) and would never engage in any combat the group initiated in order to ensure someone would return and warn the community of particularly dangerous enemies or circumstances that might be encountered again in the future.

Virgil knew this. He knew that Jake's invitation was less of a courteous camaraderie and more of an order. "Alright." It wasn't like he was decked out with weaponry anyway, so the arrangement could only benefit him. "Shall we get going then?"

"Yeah. Chidi, you all good?"

The woman nodded, placing the last retrieved arrow back into her quiver despite the shaft still being bloodied. She'd clean them all later. The quartet began to walk along the tracks, leaving behind the defeated horde. Jake pulled ahead with Chidi, making light conversation with her, while Virgil hung back a few paces. He glanced sideways to the diminutive figure of a child. He'd been too focused on Jake - _the_ Jake - to notice the boy before but now he was curious as to why he was there.

"So," he began awkwardly, not entirely sure whether to treat this person as a naive kid or an adult. "What's your name?"

The boy looked sideways at him with a peculiar expression. Annoyance? Confusion? Disapproval? Virgil didn't know. "Aiden."

"Oh, cool." Did the provision of his name mean he'd been cleared for conversation? "What're you doing out here? With Jake, I mean."

Another peculiar look. "Jake said I could come along."

"Right... Uhmm..." Virgil scratched the back of his head. "Did you live in London before all, y'know, _this_?"

"No. Came down from Cambridgeshire."

"With your parents?"

"My dad."

"Is he back at the stadium then?"

"He's dead."

"Oh..."

Virgil fell silent, worried he'd stepped on a landmine, but the boy kept on walking with no sign of discomfort at the topic. Had it been a joke? He didn't think he should treat it as such, just in case.

Aiden was finding the situation hysterical. A man from the Sailors, so tough and confident in front of the adults was now stumped and flailing for questions to ask. Suffice to say, it was obvious Virgil had very little experience with children and how to address them, and the boy was having a whale of a time confusing the scout. Clearly he had forgotten that, though young in appearance, Aiden had been living in the same world as everyone else for the past year. People could die any day, he knew that full well. It was never a happy occasion, of course, but not unexpected either.

Virgil's silence persisted until they reached the entrance to the marina. They checked in with the guard there before heading to the makeshift command room in one of the warehouses, people watching the foreign trio as they passed. The Sailors were a small group in comparison to the Athletes, numbering somewhere in the thirties and virtually all male. Chidi held her head high, unfazed by the stares she in particular was receiving, her air indicating an undeniable refusal to anyone considering an approach.

When they reached the command room Jake turned to Aiden. "Stay here; we'll sort out the boring stuff." The boy was prone to running off, a fact of which Jake was fully aware. He hoped that Aiden would behave, given that he'd finally been allowed to accompany them outside the stadium, but just in case he shot a meaningful glance to Virgil.

The scout found himself accepting responsibility for the boy, despite having no reason to. If anything, his inability to communicate properly was a reason _against_ hanging around and taking care of him.

Aiden pouted slightly at Jake's order but decided to obey, hopping up on a barrel and sitting there, swinging his legs. He watched as his guardians went to negotiate with the leader of the Sailors, the thought of exploring crossing his mind briefly. It wasn't worth it really, and he sincerely doubted he'd escape with Virgil watching over him. Aiden's attention drifted until the man tried to make conversation again.

"So... Do you fight with Jake much?"

"Not much. But I'd like to."

"Yeah, he looks pretty skilled."

Aiden nodded enthusiastically and Virgil knew that this was a safe topic. An internal sigh of relief.  
"He's super good! I might even have thought he was Kenny or something if I didn't know any better!"

Virgil started. "You know about them?"

Aiden jumped to his feet, the barrel rocking beneath him. "Who doesn't? The greatest zombie killers history has ever known - Kenny and Clementine! Smashing their way through Britain one monster at a time!" He beamed, swept up in his dramatic description. Then he paused, tilted his head and said, "I think that Jake is probably better though."

"You know," Virgil sat on a crate, an inner sense of confidence flooding him now that he knew it _was_ possible for him to talk with the child," people say they're in London now."

Aiden's eyes widened and he jumped down from the barrel to stand in front of the man. "Really?"

"Yeah." He grinned.

"Awesome! I want to meet them! Ah, but Jake wouldn't let me search for them." This thought dampened his cheer.

"Well he's got a lot of people to think and take care of, so if he says so it's probably because it'd be safer."

"But those people just joined us to see if the rumours are true," Aiden pouted.

"Are they?"

"What?"

"Are the rumours true?"

"Don't know." The boy shrugged. "The only one who might know is Jake."

"Wait, 'might'? He _has_ to know." Virgil was confused.

"Oh, it's common knowledge in our camp; I guess not everyone's heard, huh?" Aiden sat on the crate next to the scout. "Amnesia. Jake can't remember a thing from before a year ago. So, he doesn't know if the rumours are _actually_ true."

"Really?" The man's eyes were wide as he looked in Jake's direction despite the fact that there was no way to see him through the wall. "But he seems so together. And he's the leader of the Athletes!"

"He says we just made him leader for no reason," Aiden explained as he fiddled with a protruding nail in the side of the crate. "I think it's because he's so cool."

Virgil opened his mouth to speak but a sudden clamour from the warehouse door smothered any sound he was going to make. Both man and boy looked over in curiosity to see two burly men tailing a far thinner man, shouting nonsense, into the building.

"Frank, Dan," Virgil greeted the large pair. "He kicking up a fuss again?"

"Yeah," one of them - Frank - sighed.

Aiden shifted his focus to Virgil, blue eyes making a silent query. "We picked this guy up a week ago," he explained, referring to the weasely man. "He was thanking us then for saving him from pirates or something, but now he throws a fit whenever we ask him to help out."

The other man - Dan - stared at Aiden the same way Virgil had earlier. "Who is this?"

"Kid from the Athletes. Came over with the leader."

Dan placed a hand on his chin as though stroking a non-existent beard as he studied Aiden for an uncomfortably long time. "Athletes, huh? Say, did your leader really get bitten and survive?"

Nearby, the shouting man's head whipped up in interest.

"Maybe..." Aiden answered vaguely, somewhat cowed now that he was surrounded by three people all nearly twice his height.

"Oh?" Virgil made a noise of surprise as he caught sight of the shouting man coming closer. "You interested in this, eh Maurice?"

"My name is not 'Maurice'," he complained, accent laden in his voice. He stared at Aiden as he spoke, making the boy even more uncomfortable than he already was. "It is Maurycy."

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**Okay so Virgil is a character who literally just popped into existence out of NOWHERE and then made himself at home in this chapter...**


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